The invention is directed into an electronic toll system for traffic routes and to a method for its operation.
An intensive discussion has emerged in Europe about an optimally designed toll system, the type of systems that can be used internationally and are interoperable, and that can be used economically and flexibly. These questions and the desired system characteristics, respectively, could not been harmonized to date, because each country and each infrastructure operator has his own ideas about the technologies to be used or planned with the system for collecting tolls.
It would nevertheless be desirable and advantageous for users of the traffic routes in Europe to harmonize the employed toll systems at least within the EU. Other countries seeking to become members of the EU also wrestle with the question, which systems and technologies they should implement in the future for collecting tolls.
In general, the EU seeks to implement with the support of the owners and drivers of vehicles an acquisition and billing system based on a device installed in the vehicle, i.e., a system located in the vehicle, and a common bill for all traveled roads subject to tolls within the EU based on a contractual relationship, for example in the country of residence. A person subject to tolls has to pay the fees based on the regulatory and private conditions, if he intends to utilize or has already utilized traffic infrastructures subject to tolls. In other words, the person subject to tolls is obligated to pay the tolls and can select system used for paying the toll.
One of the great success stories in the development of the technologies, standardization and introduction into the market of these new technologies and products in Europe as well as worldwide was of the mobile communication standard GSM. The development was influenced significantly by the cooperation between France and Germany and the telecommunications industry, which together led to worldwide success. GSM is therefore an excellent candidate as a communication carrier for a vehicle-based toll systems.
DE 101 04 499 A1 teaches a toll acquisition system with a vehicle unit for vehicle-autonomous determination of a toll for a vehicle within a toll billing region. Data required for determining the toll are transmitted to the vehicle device as necessary from an operator center via a communication device. The vehicle device continuously determines incurred partial tolls for traveled road sections and the total toll for a trip by summation of the individual partial tolls. When reaching the destination or when meeting other predetermined criteria, the vehicle terminal transmits the toll determined until that time via the communication device to the operator center for billing.
In conventional toll systems, the accuracy, in particular a precise determination of a vehicle location by satellite navigation plays an important role. A large portion of the technologies which were in part especially designed for toll collection is used for providing this high accuracy. The tolls are computed in the vehicle terminal, which offers attack points for manipulation.